Investing

Life Changes

A new aging filter on TikTok may help you better envision yourself in your elder years.
Experts say that may serve as inspiration to prepare now for a long life, including financial steps that may pay off big later on.
A recent Bankrate survey found not saving for retirement early enough is the number one financial regret.

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When it comes to planning for longevity, experts say it helps to envision your future self. A new aging filter trending on TikTok can help make that a reality.
While glimpsing a more wrinkled you in the reflection may come as a shock, it’s the steps you take immediately afterward that can help increase your financial security in your later years.

But chances are, you won’t take them.
“The dots need to be connected for consumers, especially given many other things that they have to think about,” said Hal Hershfield, author of the book “Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today.”

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Use an aging filter to overcome retirement inertia

A recent Bankrate survey found not saving for retirement early enough is the number one financial regret.
Experts say increasing your retirement savings deferral rate just slightly, say by 1%, can make a big difference over time. The earlier you start, the more you will benefit from compound interest, whereby the money you earn gets reinvested and earns even more.

The TikTok aging filter may serve as inspiration, but only if savers take the necessary follow-up steps, experts say. Admittedly, inertia may prevent them from doing so.

Once people see an image of their older selves, they tend to feel differently about their future decisions, said Joseph Coughlin, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. Whether those effects will last six months or a year from now is uncertain, he said.
Successful, lasting behavioral changes typically come with incentives to work toward, such as saving money or exercising, Coughlin said. But once the incentives stop, the behavior often does as well, he said.
Pairing an aging filter video with prompts to save more money or invest more toward retirement may be effective, according Hershfield, who is also a professor of marketing and behavioral decision making at the University of California, Los Angeles.

How to plan for ‘future you’

Taking the initiative to plan for the “future you” now can pay off substantially in the long run, and not just financially.
Just about a quarter of why someone dies at a given age is due to genetics and the rest is mostly lifestyle, according to Carolyn McClanahan, a physician, certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. She is also a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

“The best way to prepare is always keep yourself physically in good shape,” McClanahan said.
Here are three ways to make smart decisions that benefit you now and in the future:
1.  Focus on creating financial flexibility. Rather than focusing on retirement, think of saving as a way to give you more choices in the future, McClanahan suggested.
2. Pay attention to how much you spend. Having a high-priced lifestyle will not only cost you more now, but will also require you to save more toward retirement, McClanahan said.
3. Think of yourself doing everyday activities. To be more inspired to plan for your future self, it helps to realistically picture who that person will be and what they will need, Coughlin said. Ask yourself how your older self will approach everyday things such as who you will have lunch with or how you will get an ice cream cone. “Sometimes your goals are simple and the things that make you smile,” Coughlin said. More

Life Changes

Currently, “catch-up contributions” allow savers 50 and older to funnel extra money into 401(k) and other retirement plans beyond the employee deferral limit.
A change enacted via Secure 2.0 would have eliminated the tax break for higher earners by only allowing these deposits in after-tax Roth accounts, starting in 2024.
However, the IRS on Friday announced a two-year delay for the change, meaning savers can still make pretax catch-up contributions through the end of 2025, regardless of income.

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Higher earners who maximize retirement savings now have more time for pretax catch-up 401(k) contributions, thanks to new IRS guidance. 
Currently, “catch-up contributions” allow savers 50 and older to funnel an extra $7,500 into 401(k) plans and other retirement plans beyond the $22,500 employee deferral limit for 2023.

A change enacted via Secure 2.0 would have eliminated the upfront tax break on catch-up contributions for higher earners by only allowing these deposits in after-tax Roth accounts, starting in 2024.
But the IRS on Friday announced a two-year delay for the change, meaning savers can still make pretax catch-up contributions through the end of 2025, regardless of income.

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“The administrative transition period will help taxpayers transition smoothly to the new Roth catch-up requirement,” the IRS said in a statement. 
The Secure 2.0 change applies to employees making catch-up deposits to 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) plans who earned more than $145,000 from a single company the prior year. 
Some 16% of eligible employees took advantage of catch-up contributions in 2022, according to a recent Vanguard report based on roughly 1,700 retirement plans.

Delay is ‘a very good thing’ for retirement plans

The delay is “a very good thing” for retirement plan administrators, said Dan Galli, a Norwell, Massachusetts-based certified financial planner and owner of Daniel J. Galli & Associates.
“There’s no way to do this right without a couple of years of preparation,” he added.

There’s no way to do this right without a couple of years of preparation.

Owner of Daniel J. Galli & Associates

About 200 organizations wrote a letter to Congress in July asking for more time to implement the 401(k) changes, and many are applauding the delay.
Retirement plan sponsors are grateful for the agency’s “critically important relief,” Diann Howland, vice president of legislative affairs for the American Benefits Council, said in a statement Friday.
“Without this additional compliance period, a vast number of plans and employers would not have been able to comply with the new requirement and likely would have had to suspend catch-up retirement contributions,” she said. 

‘Leverage the lower tax brackets’

While higher earners now have an extra two years for pretax catch-up 401(k) contributions, some may still consider after-tax deposits with impending income tax law changes, Galli said.
“This really coincides well with the changing tax brackets coming in 2026,” he said. Several provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including lower individual tax rates, will sunset after 2025 without intervention from Congress.

While pre-tax 401(k) contributions provide an upfront tax break, after-tax Roth deposits allow funds to grow and be withdrawn in retirement tax-free. And with possible tax hikes on the horizon, it may make sense for some investors to pay taxes now.
“What we’re doing with clients right now is trying to leverage the lower tax brackets for as long as we can,” Galli said. More

Life Changes

The U.S. Department of Education announced this summer that the public service loan forgiveness application can now be done completely online, including the required signatures by borrowers and their employers.
This change “eliminates delays, yielding a more efficient process,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

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Navigating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program has been famously difficult. Fortunately, student loan borrowers may find that the process is getting a little easier.
The U.S. Department of Education announced this summer that the PSLF application can now be done completely online, including the required signatures by borrowers and their employers. This change “eliminates delays, yielding a more efficient process,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

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The PSLF program, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, allows certain not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans canceled after 10 years of on-time payments. In 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimated that one-quarter of American workers may be eligible.
Here’s what to know about the updated process.

PSLF help tool should make things easier

With the PSLF help tool, borrowers can search for a list of qualifying employers and access the employer certification form.
That form will confirm that you’re working in an eligible job and generate an updated tally of how many qualifying payments you’ve made (by the end, you need 120).
On the tool, you’ll be asked to provide an email address of someone at your place of employment who can confirm your position and sign the form. Previously, borrowers needed to track down the right people at their workplaces and get a physical signature from them.

Once the process is complete, the form should automatically be delivered to the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA). That’s the student loan servicer that currently handles PSLF borrowers (previously FedLoan did so).
Try to fill out this form at least once a year, Kantrowitz added, and keep records of your confirmed qualifying payments.
The Education Department says the process should take less than 30 minutes to complete, and that you should have your W-2s or Federal Employer Identification Number handy.

Figuring out if you qualify for PSLF

There are three main requirements for public service loan forgiveness, although recent changes by the Biden administration provide some more wiggle room in certain cases:

Your employer must be a government organization at any level, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization or some other type of not-for-profit organization that provides public service.
Your loans must be federal Direct loans.
To reach forgiveness, you need to have made 120 qualifying, on-time payments in an income-driven repayment plan or the standard repayment plan.

Keep in mind that so long as you remained in public service, all months during the Covid pandemic-era payment pause that’s been in effect since March 2020 count toward your 120 needed payments, whether or not you’ve been making payments on your loans.
Student loan bills are scheduled to resume in October.
The Biden administration recently touted that it has so far forgiven over $45 billion in debt for 662,000 borrowers through its improvements to the PSLF program.
“The Biden-Harris team is as committed as ever to upholding the promise of PSLF and ensuring borrowers who devote their careers to teaching our children, strengthening our communities, and serving our nation get the relief they’ve earned,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a recent statement. More

Young people are more likely to give up returns on investments to invest in ways that support causes they care about, new data shows.
The behavior can be connected to a need among young people to signal their values, one behavioral scientist said.
The data comes as the environmental, social and governance framework finds itself in hot water politically.

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When Hannah Cohen invests in a stock or fund, one thing she looks for is if the mission aligns with her personal values.
For example, the 25-year-old data consultant has invested in funds like the ALPS Clean Energy ETF and the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF as someone who cares about climate change. In the same vein, big-oil stocks are largely out of the question.

“It sends a message that people are interested and that people do care,” Cohen said. “I don’t know how much of a difference I as an individual am making, but I do think it’s important to at least play a part and show that I’m invested physically, but also emotionally, in these causes.”

What young investors want

Recent survey data indicates that Cohen isn’t alone. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z investors want to allocate their portfolios in a way that supports causes they care about, according to a July survey of some 4,000 current and aspiring investors by U.S. Bank.
That’s compared with 59% of millennials, 45% of Gen X and 30% of boomers.
And active young investors are willing to give up returns to see that goal through. The survey found more than four-fifths of Gen Z and millennials would be willing to underperform the S&P 500’s 10-year average return of 12% to ensure that the companies where they’ve invested align with their belief systems. Only 73% of Gen X and 65% of boomers said the same. 

Nearly a fifth of the Gen Z investors said they would accept returns between 9% and 11.8%, rather than the full 12% average return. Nearly 30% would take between 6% and 8.9%, while another 30% would accept returns between 3% and 5.9%.

Matthew Ivler, a 23-year-old machine learning engineer, began his investing journey in March 2020 soon after the pandemic sparked a market crash. Initially, he allocated his portfolio mostly toward single stocks and was more focused on receiving consistent dividends versus growth. Now, his portfolio mostly consists of exchange-traded funds — which has also changed how he aligns his investment strategies with his values.
“With [ETFs], I’m just like, ‘Yeah this is going to track the market.’ But in the end, I’m ultimately investing in all these companies, and some probably do things I disagree with,” Ivler said. “But on a single stock, I pick [one] I think has a fundamental importance.”  
He cited Home Depot as one of his original holdings that he later sold after controversy around the company’s donations to federal lawmakers who objected to the results of the 2020 presidential election. Chevron was also part of his portfolio when he first began investing, but he later reduced exposure to it in favor of alternative energy companies as he became more climate-conscious. 
His portfolio now includes names such as Edison International, which is engaged in renewable energy solutions, as well as the Invesco Water Resources ETF, which focuses on utility companies that help conserve and purify water. Ivler’s year-to-date return on his investments is approximately 9.5%, while the S&P 500 has gained nearly 15% in the same period.

Sending a ‘signal’

U.S. Bank’s survey builds on earlier data pointing in a similar direction. Younger and wealthier investors were more likely to support environmental, social and corporate governance — or ESG — issues and put returns on the line for those values, according to a survey from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Hoover Institution released late last year.
The data comes as accountability measures and standards for ESG investing are hotly debated. President Joe Biden used his first veto in March to save a U.S. Department of Labor rule around investing in ESG funds that many Republicans wanted killed. Lawmakers in Washington have continued to spar over ESG reporting mandates for companies.

One broad behavior-based phenomenon for the relationship between age and ESG may be that young adults inherently seek out ways to express their identity, according to Julie O’Brien, the head of behavioral science at U.S. Bank. 
Investing can provide another way for young adults to say, “This is the kind of person that I am, and now I get to act in a way that’s in-line with my identity,'” O’Brien said. “What we see with ESG investing is that it creates something that you can signal to other people.”
O’Brien also said that younger generations may feel more connected to ESG given the increased amount of information available and the ubiquity of social media.

‘Needs to be done’

To be sure, attitudes toward socially conscious investing vary when looking at different identifying factors within age groups. Of active investors, U.S. Bank found Hispanic and Black investors were significantly more likely to feel motivated to use investing as a vehicle for supporting causes they care about.
Dylan Assi said being a self-described visible minority makes ESG issues harder to ignore when personally investing. The 22-year-old, who is a passive investor that first became exposed to ESG in college, said it can be clear if a company is putting “money where their mouth is.”
“There’s an obvious problem that we have on the environmental side, but also on the social side,” said Assi, who works in real estate private equity and investing. “Fundamentally, doing the right thing is something that needs to be done.”
Assi said he’s found a misconception among fellow young investors that they must underperform the broader market in order to appease personal values. Rather than looking for companies that appear “perfect” on all fronts, he said to look at those supporting ESG trends more broadly. He pointed to Apple and Microsoft’s work on sustainability in the cloud as an example.
Cohen, whose portfolio is up about 35% this year, agreed that investors don’t necessarily need to forfeit profit to make socially conscious decisions. But she said it can be challenging to find trustworthy research on how companies rank in the ESG space without access to expensive screening software. It’s even more difficult when looking for companies doing work in the social or corporate governance realms, she added.
Assi said he usually looks at publicly available ESG reports, but recognizes the potential for bias given that they are typically written by the companies themselves. On the other hand, Ivler said he doesn’t actively seek out a company’s ESG reports, but will look at the general news for insights into a company’s actions.
Despite roadblocks, O’Brien believes having an ESG-focus when investing is ultimately beneficial for young investors in achieving their financial goals. It makes investing more concrete and tangible, she said, which is especially important as young people grapple with uncertainty and an abstract future. 
“We tend to forget that investing is not just money and math,” she said. “It’s psychology and things that are inherently baked into our humanity that we need to navigate around.” More

Most workers — 89% — want flexibility when it comes to their work schedules.
Companies are striving to get workers back in the office, but that doesn’t have to end flexibility completely, experts say.

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Most workers are hoping that flexible Covid-era work policies will stay in place.
A new survey from Bankrate found 89% of full-time workers, or those looking for full-time work, are in favor of remote and hybrid work or four-day work weeks.

More than half of workers — 51% — said they would be willing to switch jobs or industries to get their desired schedule.
The results of the survey, which was fielded in July, come as a remote work reckoning may be brewing.
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Meta plans to require its workers to return to the office three days per week starting in September. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is pushing for a full return to a five-day-a-week in-office schedule.
Just over 8% of job postings on Indeed offer some form of remote work, down from a high of more than 10% last year, according to Nick Bunker, director of North American economic research at the job listings website.

Most sectors are more likely to advertise remote work than they were before the pandemic, Bunker said.
But the sectors most likely to be open to remote work then are more likely to advertise those kinds of positions now, he said. That includes roles in software development, marketing, information technology and data science.

For workers who want to keep their flexible schedules, the good news is that a job or industry switch may not be necessary in order to get the schedules they want, according to Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster.
“Employers don’t want to lose top talent,” Salemi said. “It costs them money and time to replace you.”
Whether you’re a job seeker or an existing employee, the key is to know how to ask.
“Think about it like a salary negotiation,” Salemi said. “Do your homework first.”

Look for leverage in your current job

Set up a time to speak with your boss and do your research ahead of time, particularly with regard to your company’s work-from-home policy and where there may be exceptions, Salemi said.
If you’ve already been working from home, think of examples when you worked remotely, absolutely aced your work and received excellent feedback, Salemi suggested.
Also think of concrete reasons why working remotely will be beneficial both to you and your boss, she said. That may include higher productivity and time and money saved from commuting.
If you have not had a meaningful salary increase amid high inflation, you may have a more compelling argument for saving money by not traveling to the office, she said.
Additionally, be prepared to offer a trial run so you and your employer can test the arrangement.
“It’s a matter of knowing exactly what you’re looking for … and to prove yourself and show an established pattern where you have worked well working remotely,” Salemi said.
If your boss is not open to offering flexibility, you may update your resume and start looking for other positions elsewhere, she said.

Be upfront about what you want when job hunting

When looking for remote or flexible positions, experts say it’s best to be upfront about what you want.
In an executive summary at the top of your resume, highlight your skills and experience and state up front whether you are looking for a 100% remote position or hybrid work, Salemi suggested.
Treat remote and flexible work as a negotiation, much like you would salary, she advised.

“When you’re talking to employers, know what you’re willing to walk away from,” Salemi said.
At the start of the position, you may negotiate how many days you are in the office to start, with a plan to revisit that arrangement after several months. Importantly, that arrangement should be documented in writing, Salemi said.
“You really want to be on the same page from day one,” Salemi said. More

The average annual percentage rates for both new and used cars rose in the second quarter of the year, according to Edmunds.
Used car shoppers end up paying more on interest rates in the long run, explained Joseph Yoon, a consumer insights analyst for the car website.

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Rising interest rates are pushing auto loan rates upwards for both new and used cars across the U.S. 
The average annual percentage rate for new cars rose 7.1%, in the second quarter of the year, according to car website Edmunds, while that for used cars ticked up 11%.

Thus, shoppers opting for preowned vehicles end up paying more on car payments in the long run.

“If you’re financing a used car at 11% for six-seven years, after a couple years that car is not worth anything, so people are just paying for money,” said Joseph Yoon, a consumer insights analyst at Edmunds. “[This is] the big issue at the moment.”

States with highest interest rates for used cars

The average APR a person gets relates to their credit score, according to Tom McParland, a contributing writer for automotive website Jalopnik. “If you have good credit, you get lower interest rates,” he said. “If you have poor credit, you’re going to get higher interest rates.” 
Interest rates on used cars currently are the highest in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia.These also happen to be states where there’s a greater population of people financially struggling, said McParland, who is an operator of vehicle-buying service Automatch Consulting. Indeed, all but Ohio and New Mexico figured among the bottom 10 on a recent list of states with the best and worst average credit scores from WalletHub.
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“You’re going to have a higher likelihood of those people that don’t have strong credit scores,” he said. 
The longevity risk associated with used cars is yet another factor driving up interest rates for car shoppers, Yoon said.
People forced into buying cars that are older than they expected could run into more problems in the next five to seven years, he added.

“Even if you buy the most reliable vehicle in the world, once it reaches 100,000 miles, it’s going to cost you … in preventative maintenance,” Yoon said. “Things break or wear out.” Car repair costs are also rising, adding to maintenance woes for drivers of used vehicles. Common car repairs can run consumers $500 to $600 a visit and are sometimes “much higher,” according to AAA.
“I think a lot of these car buyers that were forced into unfavorable situations are going to find themselves in worse situations in a couple years,” Yoon said.

What to do if you had to buy a used car

Make sure you pay off the loan on a used car as soon as possible, advised Yoon. By shortening the length of the loan, owners save money on interest.
Also, don’t skimp on preventive maintenance for your car; make sure you take the vehicle for its recommended routine inspections and don’t skip out on oil changes.

“I can guarantee that it’s always cheaper to fix it before it breaks,” Yoon said.
Finally, listen to your mechanic if they notice something; if you are wary about their recommendations, you can gut-check by asking for a second opinion from a different shop.
“You bought this car believing it will last you … at least the length of your loan term payment, so you want to keep it on the road as long as possible,” Yoon said. “The best way to do that is to be proactive with the maintenance — not reactive.” More

Savers are now getting higher cash yields but could owe more taxes than expected, experts warn.
Interest from high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit creates “ordinary income” every year, subject to federal and state income taxes.
Taxable money market funds and Treasury bills also trigger ordinary income. But Treasury bill earnings won’t trigger state or local taxes.

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Savers are now getting higher cash yields after several interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. But taxes on those earnings could be a surprise, experts say.
As of Aug. 24, the top 1% of savings accounts were paying average rates north of 4.5%, and the most competitive one-year certificates of deposit offered more than 5.5%, according to DepositAccounts.

Meanwhile, Treasury bills, which have terms ranging from one month to one year, had yields well above 5% as of Aug. 24, and the biggest money market funds were also paying more than 5%, Crane Data reported.
“Everyone thinks it’s kind of a free lunch,” said Tommy Lucas, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida. “But you’ve got to consider the tax man.”
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Interest from high-yield savings accounts and CDs creates “ordinary income” every year, subject to federal and state income taxes. Falling into the regular tax brackets, ordinary income is less favorable than long-term capital gains.
Similarly, taxable money market funds — which typically invest in shorter-term lower-credit-risk debt — and Treasury bills also trigger ordinary income. But Treasury bill earnings aren’t subject to state or local taxes.

For example, let’s say you’re earning 4% annual interest on $100,000 in a CD. If you’re in the 22% federal income tax bracket, you may have an extra $880 in federal tax liability.
Plus, “it may affect other tax planning opportunities,” said Lucas, such as Roth individual retirement account conversions or the chance to harvest investment gains at the 0% capital gains rate.
However, some higher earners are opting for municipal money market accounts, which invest in state-issued debt and offer federal tax-exempt interest. Of course, investors need to compare after-tax yields for regular money market funds to see which option is best.

Every financial decision has a ‘tax impact’

When buying assets that create income, it’s important to consider your complete financial picture, said CFP John Loyd, an enrolled agent and owner at The Wealth Planner in Fort Worth, Texas. 
“Pretty much every financial decision is going to have a tax impact, whether it’s immediate or down the road,” he said.

If you’re buying income-producing assets outside of a retirement account or in a brokerage account, you can expect yearly income. But you won’t have the same problem for products held within tax-free or tax-deferred accounts, Loyd said.
“I’ve been doing a lot of CDs for clients, and we’ve been doing the vast majority of those inside retirement accounts if we can,” he said. More

Negative headlines about the future of Social Security may influence the retirement benefit decisions people make.
If you’re planning to claim, here’s what experts say you should focus on instead.

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The subject of Social Security was largely left untouched in the first Republican presidential debate.
But worries about the future of the program loom large in Americans’ minds, a recent survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute shows.

To that point, 75% of individuals age 50 and up worry Social Security will run out of funding in their lifetimes, according to the survey of 1,806 individuals taken between May and June.
That is up from 66% of adults who said the same in 2014.
Those concerns have increased as the depletion dates for the program’s funds come closer. The program’s combined funds are due to run out in 2034, at which point 80% of benefits will be payable, Social Security’s trustees have said.
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Meanwhile, the fund the program relies on to pay retirement benefits is projected to last until 2033 — just a decade away — with 77% of benefits payable at that time.

“You’ve got people on this stage that won’t even talk about Social Security and Medicare,” former Vice President Mike Pence said during Wednesday’s Republican primary debate.
In a February interview with CNBC, Pence said it was necessary to “get everybody at the table” to discuss the future of the programs.
“There’s lots of good ideas to solve this that are common sense that don’t impact people at the point of the need, that don’t affect anybody that is going to retire in the next 25 years,” Pence said, pointing to legislation passed 50 years ago that raised the retirement age and ushered in long-time solvency.
While the other candidates didn’t take Pence’s bait to debate the future of the programs Wednesday, they have addressed them in separate interviews.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News in July that he would “protect people’s Social Security,” though he is open to reform.
“Talking about making changes for people in their 30s or 40s so that the program’s viable, you know, that’s a much different thing, and that’s something that I think that there’s going to need to be discussions on,” he said.
Uncertainty about the future of Social Security comes as more Americans rely on the program for their sole source of income, with 21% doing so according to Nationwide’s latest retirement survey, versus 13% in 2014.
Meanwhile, just 31% said they currently have income from pensions, versus 48% who said the same 10 years ago.
While the fate of Social Security remains uncertain, experts say there are a couple of things people can do to position themselves for the most benefits available to them.
“This is one of the largest decisions you’ll make in your life” and one people are least informed about when going into it, said Tina Ambrozy, senior vice president of strategic customer solutions at Nationwide.

1. Base claiming strategy on your personal situation

Uncertainty around the future of Social Security is the No. 1 reason many retirees are claiming before age 70 — the maximum age it pays to wait to before getting benefits — and full retirement age, when they stand to receive 100% of the benefits they earned, a Schroders survey recently found. Find out your full retirement age by using this calculator.
But experts say it’s still best to base your retirement claiming strategy on your personal situation, rather than fears about the program’s outlook.

Even if lawmakers fail to enact changes to Social Security before the depletion dates, the average retiree will still receive about 77 cents on the dollar, Joe Elsasser, a certified financial planner and founder and president of Covisum, a Social Security claiming software company, recently told CNBC.com.
Targeting the claiming strategy that will get you the most benefits will put you in a strong position, even if there are changes down the road.
Waiting to claim is not the best strategy for everyone, and the decision shouldn’t be based exclusively on age, Ambrozy said.

2. Get educated on the ins and outs of the rules

Social Security comes with many complex rules, and almost half of adults — 49% — said they know how to maximize their benefits, Nationwide’s survey found.
Yet just 13% of adults can correctly guess their full retirement age, which is when they are eligible for 100% of the benefits they earned.
Notably, almost half of respondents — 49% — erroneously believe their benefits will go up at full retirement age even if they claim early.
“Once you elect to start receiving benefits, it locks in,” Ambrozy said. “You’re not just going to just step up based on age.”
To avoid costly mistakes, experts say it’s best to study up on the program’s rules, including information provided by the Social Security Administration.

We just are big believers that you should ask for help and don’t wait until it’s too late.

Tina Ambrozy
senior vice president of strategic customer solutions at Nationwide

To gauge how much money you may be eligible for in retirement, it helps to set up an online Social Security account, where you can also make sure your earnings history and other crucial information is correct.
But prospective beneficiaries should avoid asking workers in their Social Security office for advice, Ambrozy said, as they may not be experts in claiming strategies.
Instead, consulting a financial advisor who is well versed in Social Security can help you identify the most optimal claiming strategy for your personal situation.
“We just are big believers that you should ask for help and don’t wait until it’s too late,” Ambrozy said. “Don’t wait until you’ve already filed and you’re starting to collect and then suddenly you realize you’ve made an incorrect choice.” More